my friend serena williams is making news tonight. she lost in the quarterfinals at the australian open in a match that brought out all her intensity. >> well, i recognize all that because of course last year we clashed ourselveses in a match of equal drama and tension in new york and she didn't take that defeat well at all either. watch this. >> yes! yes!

yes! >> oh, come on! >> not a happy bunny then. anyway, serena, take it from me. we don't want you any other way. keep showing that hunger, that desire, that passion to be the best. it's what makes you a great champion. and remember, if you want to come and have a rematch, think you can cope with the emotions it will bring out in you, i'm ready anytime. that's all for us tonight. that's all for us tonight. "anderson cooper" starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com there's breaking news tonight and no shortage of compelling stories. there's the unwilling unwitting face of a hoax. this woman's face stolen, used in the strangest con game college football has ever seen. we'll ask diane o'meara what it was like to have no connection at all to manti te'o yet be known by millions as his fictitious girlfriend. and later we take you inside scientology. my interview with a man who's uncovered details no one else has and can back it up with reporting like no one else can. we begin with breaking news. a military story that could also seriously alter the political battlefield perhaps for decades to come. cnn has learned that tomorrow

defense secretary leon panetta will open the door to women serving in combat units. now, it won't happen all at once. there will be certain limitations. but for the first time in the long history of america's armed forces a very big door will now be opening. the decision comes with plenty of women already fighting and dying overseas, it's important to mention. at least 130 women have been killed in iraq and afghanistan. more than 800 wounded. in a moment we'll talk with congresswoman and iraq war veteran tammy duckworth. we'll also explore what could be seismic partisan political consequences. we start, though, at the pentagon with our chris lawrence. this is pretty groundbreaking stuff. after women flying helicopters, handling bomb-sniffing dogs, being combat medics, getting assigned to submarines, this is really the last great barrier to come down, right? >> you're exactly right, anderson. you're talking about army infantry, marine recon units and even potentially special operations forces. this was sort of the big glass ceiling that had not been broken yet. you mentioned those other ones. the army recently opened up

special ops aviation, that women could be pilots and crew members on aviation flights, for special operations forces. but this potentially opens up nearly a quarter of a million jobs to women in the military. >> what's the timeline on this? i mean, it doesn't happen all at once. >> no, it's not like tomorrow all these jobs are going to open all at once. some will open fairly quickly. the easiest ones to integrate where you've got a lot of women already sort of attached or working at a battalion level. those could be open in six to eight months. but some of the tougher ones, the special operations forces, certain elite infantry units, those may take years. and what the pentagon has got to do now is the individual commands have to start to assess when they may be able to make this change, and that really is the big catch there, anderson, that these commands can go through and look and say at some point we don't think we can feasibly integrate women without losing combat readiness. they can then go back to the

secretary of defense and ask for an exemption to the rule. so ultimately, down the road, this may not apply to every single job in the military, and it's something that leon panetta's successor is going to have to make some big decisions about going down the road. >> for some of these, would there be different physical standards? would it all be the same physical standards? how would that work? >> all that's got to get worked out individually. so the marines will have to look at every job, every combat unit, and decide how they want to implement it. if you look at how the navy did submarines, what they did was they took a small group of women when they were still at the naval academy, brought them in as candidates. those women trained for a couple years, and just last year, in the last few months, you started to see the first female submarine officers get on board their subs. after they get integrated, then the navy is going to bring in some enlisted women behind them, and i'm told that's how they may work some of the process with certain elite units. >> chris lawrence, thanks. >> yep. >> joining me now, chief

national correspondent john king, cnn political consultant and republican consultant margaret hoover, also wounded iraq veteran and illinois democratic congresswoman tammy duck worth. congresswoman as a veteran how did you feel about today's announcement? >> i was so pleased. because i think it's a great step forward for our military and our nation. you know, this opens up a whole new population of americans who want to serve and who want to defend this nation who now will be able to do it in combat jobs. >> john king, how much of this is about politics? >> first and foremost, it's something the president believes in, anderson. but if you attach it to some other things he said he believes in and will push for in his second term, look at what we heard in just the last 48, 72 hours. women in combat. groundbreaking language in his inaugural address on gay rights. more talk in his inaugural address about equal pay for women. the return of climate change and immigration to his agenda and gun control. take all those issues. what do they have in common? two things. they fit the demographics of the obama coalition. how did he win?

with college-educated women-w younger voters-w non-white voters. so he's embracing, if you will, not only the politics but the policy priorities of his coalition. what else do they have in common? they put pressure like a sharp thumb on some key points in a republican coalition that this white house frankly thinks is aging, is increasingly white, and is fractured. >> and you're saying you think there's no doubt that that is part of this equation? >> without a doubt. if you heard speaker john boehner just the other day after the inaugural address saying the president is trying to annihilate the republican party. now, that's a strong word. but does this president see an opportunity? i'd be interested in the congresswoman's perspective. you can't find many democrats who think that president obama worries about the democratic party 10, 15, 20 years down the road. but you will find a lot of democrats who say if you can turn the obama coalition into a democratic coalition, then the democrats will have built in on the national stage pretty much what ronald reagan had for 20 years and the republican party had after ronald reagan on the national stage. this coalition, if he can transfer it over, it spells trouble for the republicans. >> congresswoman, what do you think about what john king was

just saying? >> i don't -- i'm not privy to the president's processes and how he came up with the decision. all i can tell you is women have been dying and fighting and bleeding for this nation in combat jobs -- in combat roles in iraq and afghanistan. they may not have had those jobs specifically other than aviation, my branch of service, but they've been fighting in combat and they've been engaged in combat action. and i think that the last ten years of women serving in combat has finally pushed us to this point where you know, the pentagon's finally realized, look, women have served ably and it's time that we open up these fields. >> but you are a politician and you know politics. do you think the president is trying to box republicans into a corner? >> i don't know what the president is trying to do. all i can tell you is that i certainly, as a politician, supported this throughout my political career, but even beforehand, this is something that i've been supporting all along even when people were saying, well, women aren't capable of doing it. yes, they are. they are capable of defending our country just as well as men. >> i know you don't want to say

what you think is in the president's mind. but from a political standpoint does this box republicans into a corner or make it difficult for republicans? >> you know, i think that republicans are going to -- anyone who would oppose this would have to answer to their constituencies as to why they think that women aren't capable of doing their jobs. i think that america's sons and daughters are -- both want to fight, both want to defend this country. and i think that what women have done in iraq and afghanistan, our military women, has proven that they are fully capable of doing this. >> margaret hoover, republican, what do you think? >> i think -- i would encourage republicans here to not be reactionary and to not take the political bait. the truth is it's exactly what representative duckworth said. women have been fighting in combat roles. i mean, there have been -- not only have they been fighting in combat roles in the sense that they are taking action direct combat and seeing engagement, seeing action. there are also some rules like the female marine engagement troops in afghanistan, jobs female marines are doing that male marines simply can't do. and they're seeing conflict. they're seeing action as well.

so to be reactionary would just to be defy the facts on the ground. >> but also just from a political standpoint, to john king's point, do you think this is a -- is politics involved here, that this is shoring up a liberal coalition and also boxing republicans in? >> i think it's a perfect marriage of the reality of where the military is going and the coalition the president is trying to coalesce. so it makes perfect sense for him to do this and republicans shouldn't be reactionary about it. the thing republicans should care most about is what will keep the military the most effective and superior fighting force in the world, and if opening up to women and frankly just being realistic, women are already seeing combat, they should be -- >> do you agree with john boehner that barack obama is trying to annihilate the republican party? >> i think that he sees a splintered republican party and he's going for the jugular. and any politician in that position would. >> so you think it's a smart move? >> i mean, it's certainly savvy. the republican party is in a bit of disarray right now and certainly don't have the upper hand. the president does. so he's being wise tactically. >> john, i mean, is part of this

payback for those comments that mcconnell made about his top job being to make sure that the president wasn't re-elected? >> well, i think part of it is. you could look at it that way. i'm sure if you asked the president he would say he believes these things. i'm actually told after his inaugural address, his former chief of staff, now chicago mayor, rahm emanuel asked him where did that come from and why did you decide to give that speech, again-w all those points we've talked about. and i'm told the president looked at him and said i just decided to say some things i really believe in. he's a second-term president. he doesn't have to run for re-election. we can talk about these policies. you know, the president didn't do these things. he didn't do women in combat. he didn't lift a finger on climate change. he didn't push hard on immigration. he didn't do gun control in his first term. so he's a second-term president who doesn't have to face the voters and these are things he wants to bring front and center. how much will he follow up? we will see. but they do believe in the white house, anderson, that pick up a demographics report, look at the demographics of this country and how they're changing, look at the obama coalition from the last two elections. they believe if they can cement the loyalty of those voters in and part of cementing the loyalty of voters is act on the

issues they do. younger voters care about climate change, a lot of voters do, but these are issues that fit the obama coalition. if they can cement that in on a national scale, the republicans are in trouble. >> and margaret, you would agree the president believes this. it's not just politics. he believes in all of these things. >> i think so. i think he's sincere. i think he's earnest. i don't think there's anything insincere about saying that seneca falls, selma and stonewall. i think it's consistent with what he's stood for and it's also very politically convenient. >> it's fascinating days. congresswoman tammy duckworth, appreciate you being with us. margaret hoover, john king. let us know what you think. we're talking about it on twitter. @andersoncooper. ahead tonight, her face belonged to manti te'o. she was the image of the perfect girlfriend. his fictitious girlfriend we now know. we're going to talk to the real woman whose stolen image stole his heart allegedly. and next, on a much more serious note, the murder of four americans in libya and secretary of state clinton's fiery day on capitol hill. >> with all due respect, the fact is we had four dead americans. was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a

walk that decide they'd go out and kill some americans? what difference at this point does it make? it is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, senator. [ male announcer ] coughequence™ #8. waking the baby.

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murder of four americans in libya. these four americans. ambassador christopher stevens, glen doherty, tyrone woods, and sean smith. their names bear repeating. their sacrifice deserves honest answers and meaningful action not political posturing and some evasivanswers. so keeping them honest, are we getting honest answers to truly relevant questions, and are there security problems that cost four americans their lives actually being addressed? last month a state department accountability review board identified systemic shortcomings and failures of leadership prior to the killings. secretary clinton says she takes full responsibility. today on capitol hill lawmakers demanded accountability. >> i am troubled by what seems to be this administration's pattern of misleading the american people and failing to hold decision makers accountable. >> chris stevens, who probably knew more about libya than anybody else in our government, did not see a direct threat of an attack of this nature and scale despite the overall trend of security problems that we

faced, and i have to add neither did the intelligence community. >> an emergency meeting was held and a cable sent out on august 16th by the ambassador himself warning what could happen, and this cable went unnoticed by your office. >> it does cost money to pay for embassy security. >> since 2007 the department has consistently requested greater funding for embassy construction and diplomatic security. with the exception of 2010, congress has consistently enacted less than requested. >> we were misled that there were supposedly protest and then something sfrang out of that. >> with all due respect, the fact is we had four dead americans. >> i understand. >> was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they'd go kill some americans? what difference at this point does it make? it is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, senator. >> had i been president at the

time and i found that you did not read the cables from benghazi, you did not read the cables from ambassador stevens, i would have relieved you of your post. i think it's inexcusable. >> you let the consulate become a death trap, and that's national security malpractice. >> i have great confidence that the accountability review board did the job they were asked to do, made the recommendations that they thought were based on evidence, not on emotion. >> so there's no shortage of heat today, as you just saw. but keeping them honest, was there actually light? with us tonight is chief washington correspondent jake tapper and former bush homeland security adviser fran townsend. she spent times with ambassador stevens back in august. visiting libya with her employer mick andrews and forbes. so, jake, these kinds of hearings, it's very frustrating to watch them. it just seems it ends up being a lot of posturing and grandstanding. what exactly did we learn today that we didn't know already? >> well, certainly, there were a lot of questions that went unanswered, and certainly there were a lot of questions that

were buried in paragraphs of speeches that the members of congress gave that allowed secretary clinton to not answer them. there are a few things that we learned today. one, i think i have never heard the state department officially confirm that weapons being used in algeria, in that crisis, came from libya. that was long reported, that it was suspected. but it had not been said by the secretary of state before. in terms of the politics of ed this, i think we learned that this remains a big issue among republican rank and file, and benghazi will continue to be an issue, but that republicans still have yet to find a way to pin down any of the obama administration officials for any tangible wrongdoings. >> fran, do you think it was a waste of time? >> i do think it was a waste of time. and it was unfortunate, anderson. you've had on family members on your program and i imagine myself as a family member if i had lost somebody watching this. look, it was a waste of time to ask secretary clinton about the talking points given to ambassador susan rice.

>> and that's what -- they seemed to spend a lot of time on talking points given to susan rice. >> right. and yet when ambassador -- when secretary clinton sort of loses her temper in the senate hearing and says what difference does it make whether this resulted from a protest or some guys who went out for a walk and decided to kill americans, the right comeback to that was it does matter. if you're telling us you want to solve the prorks you have blem, understand what caused that. >> let's play the moment. where she got mad at senator johnson. >> again, we were misled that there were protests and then something sprang out of that, an assault sprang out of that. but that was easily ascertained that was not the fact. the american people could have known that within days and they didn't know that. >> with all due respect, the fact is we had four dead americans. >> i understand -- >> was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night that decided they would go kill some americans? what difference at this point does it make? it is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, senator. >> you were saying, fran, it does make a difference.

>> it does make a difference. of course. because -- and she alludes to that at the very end of her answer there. in order to fix it, you have to understand where it came from. by the way, they didn't spend a whole lot of time asking her about the several attempts to attack that consulate and the attack on the british ambassador in benghazi prior to the 9/11 attack on our consulate. there were a series of things that if they wanted to get to the substance of this, and she took responsibility, but if you wanted to hold her accountable, you needed to really organize yourself to ask substantive questions, and they didn't do that. >> did it seem like they had done their homework? >> well, i'll tell you. so here's another -- secretary clinton said she did not read all the cables that we're talkig about the security situation. not one senator, not one member of congress ask her did she get what's called a roger channel cable from ambassador stevens. that is there's a special channel in which an ambassador posted overseas can communicate directly with the secretary of

state on particularly sensitive matters. we don't know the answer to that question because, of course, nobody asked her that. >> do we know if those cables were sent, roger channel cables? >> we don't know. my point is that members of congress were so busy posturing -- they had an opportunity to really ask her difficult questions and get straight answers and they didn't do that. >> jake, where do you think this leaves secretary clinton in terms of her legacy? does it have an impact on any career she may have in 2016 in terms of running for president? did it do damage today to her? >> i think that the quote of hers that you just played, "what difference does it make at this point," is ready for a campaign commercial. whether it's from the biden for president campaign or the christie for president campaign, i don't know. but i think that that will be used against her. and certainly it comes across as more glib than i think if she could go back and revise and extend those remarks she would have them as fran just alluded to. >> is it fair, fran, to attack secretary clinton, the

administration, for not having brought some of these people to justice already? doesn't -- i mean, the flip side of that these things take time. do you think it's too much time? >> well, they do take time. secretary clinton was asked, she did mention fbi director bob mueller was in libya last week. the investigation is ongoing. didn't say much about -- other than we're working with the tunisian government. one suspect was released by the tunesians. >> they say he's under observation. but still. >> they weren't ready to bring charges yet. but you know, anderson, here's the problem. the bad guys understand just this. they're watching. there hasn't been anybody brought to justice. they understand very well the environment they are operating in. security services have melted away after the arab spring. borders are easy to cross. weapons are easily accessible. the bad guys have an advantage. and the longer this takes to bring an investigation to a conclusion and hold people accountable suggests to the bad guys that they have a free operating environment and americans are at risk throughout that region. >> interesting.

fran, appreciate it. jake tapper, thanks so much. >> thank you. another story we're covering tonight, diane o'meara learned from a reporter that she was the face of manti te'o's fake girlfriend. her stolen image is at the center of this entire hoax that changed the way some people see the star linebacker. she joins me live ahead. and later, celebrities and scientology. a controversial new book explores the church's interest in hollywood. the author, lawrence wright, won a pulitzer prize for "the looming tower," his book about 9/11 and al qaeda. he joins me about his new book on scientology next. ♪

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deadspin broke the story and exposed the scam. tonight the star notre dame linebacker is finally talking. his full interview with katie couric airs tomorrow. in clips released by "good morning america" he admits to lying to the media after learning that his alleged girlfriend's death was a hoax. he also defends his lies. listen. >> you stuck to the script. and you knew that something was amiss, manti. >> correct. >> why? >> well, if -- anybody put yourself in my situation. katie, put yourself in my situation. this girl who i committed to died on september 12th. now i get a phone call on december 6th saying that she's alive and that i'm going to be put on national tv two days later and they'll ask me the same question. what would you do? >> te'o is not the only one speaking out tonight. as bizarre as this whole story is, for everyone else, for diane o'meara it is beyond surreal. her photograph was used to create an online identity for

lennay kekua, who, again, never existed. both te'o and o'meara have said this california man, ronaiah tuiasosopo masterminded the hoax. they say he's apologized to them. he's not talking publicly. diane o'meara joins us now. thank you for being here. first of all, how are you holding up in all this? this has got to be bizarre. >> right. it's hard. i try not to think too much about it because it's very twisted and very disturbing and at this point trying to go day by day. >> so you know ronaiah tuiasosopo? >> right. he was a classmate of mine in high school. >> in high school. and had you been in -- how long ago was that? >> i graduated in 2007. >> had you been in touch with him over the years? >> no. he never contacted me up until this past december. i never saw him. >> that first photograph, how did he get that photograph? where did he take that from? >> he contacted me through multiple messages on facebook relaying that him and his cousin had been in a traumatic car accident. and my attorney, mr. donahue, he

brought these papers today, but he basically said that he's creating a slide show for his cousin who is waiting for his brain surgery and to help him out if i could send a photo of myself. ironically now thinking back i thought to myself, well, what's the difference between me taking a photo, holding up this sign versus him just taking a photo from my facebook profile? and it went as far as him sending a photo of his cousin -- >> this is the photo that he asked you to hold up a sign. >> right. >> and we now know that what was written on the sign related to the alleged dead girlfriend's twitter page. >> right. which i had obviously no idea at the time. i was told that this was more of a hashtag throughout the photo slide show and everyone else that was participating in the slide show was holding that sign. >> and there was another picture of you that -- did he take that from your facebook page? >> right.

every other photo was taken from my facebook profile or my old myspace or friends, mutual friends' facebook profiles. >> what is -- to your memory, what is ronaiah tuiasosopo like? >> he always seemed, you know, upbeat guy. always smiling. very religious. he -- >> were you close friends at all? >> no. i mean, i speak spoke with him probably two, three times in high school. as i mentioned, since then never heard from him, never hung out with him. you know. and even when he was contacting me on facebook, i was very hesitant to respond back but his urgency and his persistence was unavoidable. >> and has he -- he's now apologized to you? >> right. you know, through the first couple weeks of january he was still reaching out to me asking for more content, for more photos, for more videos, even as far as for me to send a video saying good luck on the 7th, which now obviously relates to the championship game that was on the 7th. obviously, i didn't give that content or any other photos or

anything like that. but when he found out that this was all coming to surface through the deadspin article and everyone was kind of catching on, he reached out to me a day or two days before the story broke and relayed to me that he in fact was stalking my profile for five years, taking my photos and he created -- >> for five years he was doing this? >> he created this identity that was not me. it was this lennay kekua with my face on it. >> how does that feel emotionally? >> it's unnerving. i mean, it's very frustrating. even still when i see the photos and when i see how they've been exposed all over the media, it's hard. but i mean, the fact is this doesn't just happen to me. granted, this is a very unique situation that involves mass media, but this happens every day. >> it happens to people all the time. >> yeah, which is the most devastating thing.

>> we've got a digital dashboard question from facebook. robert asks if manti were to call you now to tell you how embarrassed he is about the situation, would you speak with him? >> you know, i don't know that -- i think i would just ask manti directly, if i had a chance to speak to him, i would directly ask him were you involved? i mean, as anybody else, i'm searching for answers as well. >> do you think he might be? >> you know, i'm not one to say because this is so confusing and twisted and i don't see the real motive behind this. i mean, this seems like it was carefully executed and planned over a course of over two years. >> do you now change your facebook settings? i mean, do you -- >> well, that's the thing, i mean, i was doing everything i could to protect myself. my facebook was private. you know, i was very careful about going through each and every timeline post when it switched to timeline and changing all the settings and making sure i knew what post was there and who was seeing it.

but, i mean, clearly it's -- that's not enough nowadays. >> what's your message to other young women out there? as you said this -- i mean, i've interviewed other young women that this has happened to. >> right. and that's the scary thing-s we keep hearing about these cases of identity being stolen in this extremely vulnerable way, and no one's doing anything about it. we just keep going along hoping, wishing that i hope that doesn't happen to me. i hope that's not my daughter. i hope that's not my friend or my girlfriend. we just kind of hope. and it's not enough. it's very unsatisfactory that we have literally no protection against the advancements of internet and social media. >> yeah. well, listen, i'm sorry you had to experience this. i appreciate you talking about it. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> diana o'meara. coming up, another story about the church of scientology. celebrities like tom cruise are the focus of a new book on sign tol ji that takes a very hard look at the church's founder and its interest in recruiting celebrities. the church is slamming the book saying it's full of inaccuracies. the writer is pulitzer prize author lawrence wright who joins me ahead. and later, the bitter cold

that is turning buildings like this one in chicago into ice castles. take a look at that. just crazy. is this just a case of winter being winter or something else going on? some answers ahead. ♪

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swift and furious is a fair way to describe the church of scientology's response to a new book by author lawrence wright. it's called "going clear: scientology, hollywood, and the prison of belief." as the title suggests, it focuses on scientology's founder and its interest in recruiting celebrities. it also explores allegations of abuse. it's already in its second printing. this isn't of course the first time an author or journalist or former scientologist has turned a lens on the church. it's also not the first time scientology has tried to discredit the result and threatened legal action. we ourselves have experienced the tactics firsthand when we reported on scientology. in a moment you'll hear from

lawrence wright, author of "going clear." but first some background on how he got here. the church of scientology was founded by l. ron hubbard in 1954. its stated goals to help people "live in a civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights." members payto take courses designed to help them work through issues from their past and reach a higher state of consciousness. to understand what's holding them back, church members are tested with a device called an e-meter that's used to monitor their feelings and reactions. l. ron hubbard died in 1986, and since then this man, david miscavige, has been the leader. he, like hubbard before him, oversees a religious order inside the church, an order that is responsible for church management called the sea organization. members of sea-org sometimes wear naval-style uniforms. they dedicate their lives to the church, signing billion-year contracts, promising to remain in the church for many reincarnated lives to come. the church of scientology says

it's opened some 170 churches around the globe and claims 10 million members worldwide, 6 million in the u.s. in 2009, then church spokesman tommy davis put it this way. >> david miscavige is responsible for the current renaissance that the church is experiencing, and the fact is the church has doubled in size in the last five years and has flourished under his leadership. >> the american religious identification survey, however, cites much lower numbers. according to its survey the number of self-described practicing scientologists in the u.s. actually dropped from 55,000 to 25,000 in the years between 2001 and 2008. the church is a famously vocal critic of psychiatry, opposing what it calls brutal and inhumane psychiatric treatments. but for most this is how the public identifies with scientology, through high-profile believers. the church reaches out to well-known performers and caters to their needs with a celebrity center in hollywood. kirstie alley and john travolta are long-time scientologists, as

is tom cruise. >> being a scientologist, when you drive past an accident, it's not like anyone else. as you drive past, you know you have to do something about it because you know you're the only one that can really help. >> cruise is so close to church leader david miscavige he asked him to be his best man at his wedding. here's cruise praising the leader at a scientology event in 2007. >> i say to you, we are lucky to have you. thank you very much. >> in 2010, we met with many former sea org members, including tom cruise's former counselor, or auditor in scientology parlance, who says everything is not as it seems within the church leadership. >> go long, baby. >> marty rathbun, who used to work directly under david miscavige, says there's been a culture of violence within the leadership of the church. a culture encouraged by miscavige himself. >> he treats his subordinates in all of international management like slaves in a slave cam. and literally -- and beats them down. >> it's a claim the church

vigorously denies. they say rathbun is a liar and out to destroy the church. the church spokesman in 2009 tommy davis says yes, there was violence in the church but he blames marty rathbun for it and some others now making allegations against david miscavige. >> the allegations are absolutely untrue. there was nothing of the sort as they're describing by mr. miscavige. >> david miscavige has never kicked somebody? >> absolutely not. >> never punched somebody? >> absolutely not. >> never strangled somebody? >> no. never, never, never, never. absolutely not. >> as cnn was preparing our 2010 report, the church provided us with large stacks of affidavits from current and former church members. one-time colleagues of these former scientologists, even ex-wives that remain in the leadership of the church. some interviewed with us to defend the church saying that their former husbands and co-workers are liars. >> i never saw one scratch. i never saw one bruise. i never saw one black eye. nothing. nor did he complain about anything personally. >> now pulitzer prize-winning

author lawrence wright has written a book called "going clear: scientology, hollywood, and the prison of belief." he details the church's creation by its founder l. ron hub sxrd explores these allegations of abuse, allegations the church continues to strongly deny. and they've created a website to refute the book chapter by chapter. well, we're making the church of scientology's responses available at cnn.com. to find it, put the term "scientology" in the search field in the upper right-hand corner. "going clear" is based on extensive interviews with former and current church members. lawrence wright talked to hundreds of people. i spoke to him earlier. so why did you decide to write about scientology? >> i've always been interested in why people believe one thing rather than another. especially in this country, where you can believe anything you want. that's not true in a lot of places in the world. but we have this supermarket of religious beliefs. so why would you choose scientology, perhaps the most stigmatized religion in this country? >> what do you think it does for people?

that's the thing i sort of can't get to the bottom of. what does it give people? >> at the beginning level, when you go in and get auditing, which is their form of therapy, a lot of people feel like they are helped. in fact, that's what draws people in. they ask, what is ruining your life? what is your ruin? and if you say, well, it's my relationship or my profession or something, they say we have something that can help you. and sometimes that's true. >> and is recruiting celebrities, going -- they have this celebrity center in hollywood. was that a conscious effort by the church, and is that for pr reasons? >> oh, absolutely. these are product endorsements. but the church of scientology was created in los angeles. the celebrity center in hollywood, all of it with the design to take over the entertainment industry. you know, there were people that they were actively recruiting. they were always looking for that exemplary figure that could represent scientology, and it

would be a member -- a prominent member of the entertainment industry. >> a lot of people focus on the origin myth in scientology, or the origin story, i should say. >> right. >> and a lot of people make fun of it. i mean, my belief is every religion has an origin story and if that's their origin story, fine. i've never really focused too much on that. i find the structure of the church interesting, though. is there any other church that you know of that is structured like it in terms of paying to kind of move up through the hierarchy of the church? >> no, i don't -- nothing like that comes to mind. and it's very expensive. you know, if you want to climb -- if you walk into the door of scientology today and you go all the way to the top of the pyramid, it can -- half a million dollars or more just for -- you know, you get the course work. but then you're continually asked for money. >> the church is obviously very upset about the book. and they say, "mr. wright showed the church he has no interest in the facts, only the lies and exaggerations being fed to him

by angry bitter sources with agendas based on hatred and revenge. result is a biased work, more fiction than fact." i should say they basically said the same thing about our reporting. then published an entire magazine devoted to attacking us and cnn and myself. >> i got one in "the new yorker" as well. but i want to just say about that disclaimer from the church, first of all, you can only talk to the people that will talk to you. and i asked repeatedly to talk to upper-level executives including david miscavige but not just him. and the opportunity was foreclosed to me. i spoke to more than 250 people, the majority of them current or former scientologists. so it's not just a small group of people. we're talking about, you know, more than 150 people. their stories are very damning. they're very similar in nature. >> there's a lot of people who were formerly in the upper echelons of the church that talk about a culture of violence that they participated in. some of them admit that they

engaged in violent acts toward others in the church, but that they also point fingers at david miscavige, the leader of the church, as somebody who would leap across desks, would hit people. >> it sounds bizarre. but i had 12 people tell me they had personally been beaten up by david miscavige and more than 20 witnesses to such events. and these accounts are very similar. the hair-trigger response. a sudden jumping up and strangling people, beating people out of the blue, they have no idea what they've done and oftentimes after that they are sent off to one of these re-education camps, sometimes for years. >> we heard tom cruise in the setup package saying that he drives by an accident and he knows that he's the only one, or a scientologist is the only one who can really help. what is that idea, that somehow a scientologist can help with a road accident? >> it's a laying on of hands essentially. there's a contact assist. i was talking to josh brolin about this. he once witnessed john travolta

helping marlon brando who had actually -- wasn't in a traffic accident, but he had stopped to help a motorist on the side of the road and he'd cut his leg. and they all show up at a dinner party, and brolin is telling this story and using this dead-on brando accent. but travolta said, i've just gone up to a higher level in the church and i think i can help you. and he said, well, if you have powers, john. so he reached over and put his hand on brando's leg and he said -- and brolin said it was eerie. there was almost a physical charge between the two of them and brando said, you know what? i do feel better. so who's to say? in brando's mind maybe he was making travolta feel okay about himself, or maybe there was some sort of effect. but essentially it's a mystical idea, that you can lay on hands and you can make someone feel better. >> the church cites huge membership. millions and millions of people.

other sources say that the number is actually much smaller, in the tens of thousands. 25,000, 35,000, 45,000. is membership in decline? >> yes. i mean, it's hemorrhaging members. >> why? >> well, part of, it i think people are becoming aware of what's going on inside the church. moreover, the secret doctrines of the church, kept secret for years, are now all over the internet. they are ridiculed on "south park." so everybody kind of knows what the secrets are inside scientology and you don't have to pay a half a million dollars to learn them. >> it's a fascinating book. thank you so much, lawrence. >> it's always a pleasure. >> lawrence wright. still ahead, the family of nfl star junior seau is suing, claiming the brain injury he got playing pro football caused his suicide. could their lawsuit actually be a game changer? also ahead, it is cold out there. but it's not just talking about here in new york. much colder than normal in much of the country. can you say 33 below? and it's not over yet. we'll explain why. ic low back p.

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welcome back. a blast of accurarctic air has e shivering throughout much of the country and forecasters say it is going to stay cold through the week. of course it is late january but when you hear temperatures like 24 below in maine, 34 below in north dakota and ice accumulation in the forecast south of georgia it is not exactly a typical winter. randi kaye reports. >> bundle up. it's cold out there. >> it's cold. you can't feel your fingers at the end of the day. he. >> reporter: from new york to north dakota folks are getting hit with subfreezing temperatures that could last through the week. and that wind, it's biting. just ask this iowa ice fisherman. >> the wind is just ripping. it makes it ten times worse than it should be. >> and in fargo, north dakota where they're used to the cold, reporters seemed surprised by

it. this guy showed off a once wet t-shirt now frozen. >> makes a little sound like a drum. that's how cold it is. >> we get the nail there. >> reporter: and how about this? hammering a nail into wood with a frozen banana. >> watch. there he is. >> reporter: just east of there in ottawa, canada, this man used the cold to show off for the kids. >> mr. hall's making snow. >> it's been tough to handle. but then i just realize that we live in minnesota and, you know, we signed up for this. we knew what we were going to get. >> reporter: in chicago firefighters had to brave the cold and battle the heat. bone-chilling temperatures made fighting this massive five-alarm warehouse fire nearly impossible. water froze on their uniforms. by the time it was under control, the building was covered in a thick layer of ice. >> it was pretty high, you know, intense. and this morning i came, i saw looking at it now, it's like an ice castle. >> reporter: and with plunging

temperatures come snow. in upstate new york the town of ripley got 24.8 inches over two days. and it isn't any better elsewhere on the east coast. the airport in erie, pennsylvania saw 16.3 inches of snowfall monday. the snowiest day there since november 29th, 1979. in washington, d.c. wind chills were in the single digits. but bangor, maine may be seeing the worst of it. the bangor daily news reported a drop in temperature of 75 degrees. following record highs on monday. >> it's like needles sticking in your face. yeah, it's not pleasant. >> reporter: not pleasant and not warming up anytime soon. randi kaye, cnn, atlanta. >> it's brutal. let's get caught up on other stories we're following. here's isha way "360" bulletin. isha? anderson, the family of former linebacker junior seau is suing the nfl and redell helmets accusing them of wrongful death. they claim his suicide last may

was from a brain disease caused by violent hits he endured playing football. the faa says it's still trying to figure out the cause of the electrical problems that have grounded boeing 787 dreamliner fleet right around the world. the shutdown came last week after a battery caught on fire in boston and another incident in japan. apple reported record quarterly profits lly profits company just missed wall street expectations. analysts say cheaper older versions of apple's devices are hurting its profits. and now the connection. attention parents. there's an app that can let you know if your teen is using their cell phone behind the wheel. it's called canary. it will send you real-time messages like this if your young driver makes a call, sends a text, or even goes online when they're driving. you also get information on their location and can even see how fast they're driving. a recent study by the university of michigan and toyota found

more than a quarter of teens admit they read or send a text message at least once when they're driving. and that's only the confessors. chances are the reality is higher. anderson? >> isha, thanks. coming up, a puppy's life is saved. you won't believe how. the "riduculist" is next. ♪ [ construction sounds ] ♪ [ watch ticking ] [ engine revs ] come in. ♪ got the coffee. that was fast. we're outta here. ♪ [ engine revs ] ♪

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stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. nothing can reverse copd. spiriva helps me breathe better. (blowing sound) ask your doctor about spiriva. science and evidence based drug and alcohol treatment center. where your addiction stops and your new life begins. call now. time now for the "riduculist." and tonight we're adding traditional veterinary medicine as we know it because as it turns out aw you really need if you have a sick puppy is a nice big bottle of booze. allow me to explain. this is cleo, a nine-week-old puppy who became very ill r